Abstract
PurposeWe aimed to evaluate the growth of women within the general radiation oncology (RO) workforce in comparison to the growth among other medical specialties. We also sought to create a predictive model for gender diversity to guide future recruitment efforts. Methods and MaterialsWe identified 16 medical specialties, including RO, for analyses. We used data from the Association of American Colleges and assessed female representation at 4 time points (2006, 2011, 2016, and 2020). Additionally, we determined characteristics of medical specialties that were predictive of increased gender diversity. We performed univariate statistical analysis with linear regression to evaluate factors predictive of greater gender diversity among the medical specialties in our cohort. ResultsThe proportion of women within the represented specialties increased over time. Obstetrics/gynecology (14,750 [2006], 23,921 [2020]; 18.7% absolute growth) and dermatology (3568 [2006], 6329 [2020]; 15.1% absolute growth) experienced the highest absolute growth in female representation between 2006 and 2020. When assessing changes between various time points in RO, the absolute change in female physicians increased by 1.5% between 2006 and 2011, by 2.2% between 2011 and 2016, and by only 0.4% between 2016 and 2020, which was the lowest growth pattern relative to the other 15 specialties. Factors predictive of gender diversity among specialties were lower average step 1 scores (P = .0056), fewer years of training (P = .0078), fewer work hours (P = .046), the availability of a standard third year clerkship for a given specialty (P = .0061), and a high baseline number of female physicians within a specialty (P = .0078). Research activities (P = .099) and interest among matriculating medical students (P = .28) were not statistically significant. ConclusionsThe percentage of women in RO lags behind other medical specialties and has been notably low in the last few years. Interventions that incorporate novel initiatives proposed within this study may accelerate current recruitment milestones.
Highlights
We seek to provide a contemporary evaluation of the growth of women within the radiation oncology (RO) workforce compared with other specialties between 2006 and 2020 and assess if promising gains in gender diversity have been achieved within RO
Female representation among RO physicians was 23.4% in 2006 and 27.5% in 2020 (4.1% increase), which was tied for the second lowest absolute growth over time among the represented specialties
When assessing changes between various time points in RO, the absolute change in female physicians increased by 1.5% between 2006 and 2011, by 2.2% between 2011 and 2016, and by only 0.4% between 2016 and 2020
Summary
In radiation oncology (RO) and among other historically male-dominated specialties, there have been growing efforts to increase the presence of women in the physician workforce and to eliminate barriers to mentorship and leadership.[4,5,6,7,8] With the exception of a few studies[9,10] highlighting variance in gender distribution between RO and other specialties, the majority of studies addressing gender concerns and reparative interventions in RO have often focused solely on female underrepresentation in RO11 and have lacked the benefit of objective comparison with other medical specialties. We seek to provide a contemporary evaluation of the growth of women within the RO workforce compared with other specialties between 2006 and 2020 and assess if promising gains in gender diversity have been achieved within RO
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